The depression was located about 355 miles east-southeast of Nassau in the Bahamas late Saturday and was moving northwest at 9 mph.

The storm was expected to continue moving northwest until Sunday, then slow down and turn a bit more to the north.

The hurricane center began issuing advisories after an Air Force Hurricane Hunter reconnaissance mission found a well-defined circulation at the surface on Saturday afternoon, even though the storm itself looked a bit ragged.

Tropical Depression Four would slowly gain strength as it moves over warm water near the Bahamas and could reach hurricane status by mid-week, the hurricane center said.

So where will it go?

The hurricane center late Saturday re-emphasized that confidence in the track forecast was lower than normal, in part because computer models disagree on when and where the storm will turn northeastward and away from the U.S. East Coast.

Some models build a ridge north of the storm that would turn it toward Florida and the Gulf of Mexico. Another model suggests a hard right turn and the storm moving out to sea. Others forecast a strong ridge east of TD Four that would steer it more northward off the Southeast coast followed by a northeastward turn.

The hurricane center's official track suggests the storm would stay east of the U.S. coast, but expect that track to be adjusted many times before TD Four gets closer.

There have been two hurricanes in the Atlantic in 2014: Arthur, which was a Category 2 storm when it made landfall in North Carolina, and Bertha, which was briefly a hurricane and brushed Puerto Rico and the Bahamas before recurving out to sea.